Midstate Briefs: Metro lowers adoption fees for adult cats

The adoption fee for adult cats has been temporarily lowered to $5 for adult cats at Metro Animal Care and Control.

The greatly reduced fee from the usual charge of $60 began Friday and will last 90 days on a trial basis. The Metropolitan Board of Health approved the change as incentive to get homes for cats one year or older.

All animals offered for adoption are checked medically, neutered and up to date on vaccinations. The shelter is at 5125 Harding Place, where adoption hours are 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays.

- Tom Wilemon, The Tennessean

Vanderbilt doctor works on bioartificial kidney

A Vanderbilt University researcher is working to create an alternative to dialysis for the hundreds of thousands of Americans with end-stage kidney disease.

Dr. William Fissell IV, a nephrologist and biomedical engineer, is working with collaborators at the University of California at San Francisco to create an implantable bioartificial kidney that can be mass-produced. He has set a goal to begin testing the device in humans by 2017.

Fissell is working with Shuvo Roy, a bioengineer at UCSF on the project, and has garnered $7 million in funding so far from the National Institutes of Health and private benefactors. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the developing technology for its new fast-track approval program. Fissell and Roy also are working with other researchers on the project.

- Tom Wilemon, The Tennessean

Hendersonville rejects rezoning proposal for luxury apartment complex

Hendersonville aldermen on Tuesday unanimously rejected a North Carolina developer's request to rezone 18.3 acres behind Cracker Barrel on Indian Lake Boulevard from commercial to a multiresidential use. The rezoning would have allowed a 312-unit luxury apartment complex, Hawthorne at Indian Lake, to be built on the property.

In what he termed "unorthodox," Ward 2 Alderman Scott Sprouse turned an ordinance to rezone the property into a motion to reject the proposal.

Former Hendersonville Mayor Charles Kimbrough, a consultant on the project, said he knew before the meeting that the project didn't have enough votes to pass, so he asked those who supported it to vote against it.

"We had support, but there was no reason (for those who supported the project) to upset their constituents," he said. "There are a lot of misconceptions out there about apartments. It became political. Most people were not interested in the facts."

- Tena Lee, Gannett Tennessee

Gallatin faces unexpected 28 percent insurance hike

A resolution to Gallatin's budget impasse will probably not happen this month because of an unexpected increase in the city's health insurance premiums for the upcoming year.

The current director of personnel, Amy Summers, on Tuesday told members of the Gallatin City Council that the city's health insurance carrier, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, projected a nearly 28 percent premium increase, or $676,438, in the upcoming year.

Claims, which were 16 percent higher than expected, and utilization, which was 32 percent higher than expected, were the main reasons cited for the increase, Summers said.

"(BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee) is paying out more than we are paying in," she said.

- Josh Cross, Gannett Tennessee

Hendersonville on track with dog park fundraising

Plans for the city's first dog park are continuing to move forward with more than half of the money needed to build the park already raised.

At a fundraiser on July 7, the Doggy Beach Party added $1,500 to the pot that now stands at about $12,000 of the $20,000 needed to build the park.

The event was held at Barefoot Charlie's and sponsored by the Lions Club. The dog park was officially approved by the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Aldermen March 25.

- Sherry Mitchell, Gannett Tennessee

Spring Hill woman sued over Facebook posts files response

A Spring Hill woman who was sued by a local developer for her posts on a Facebook page called "I Heart Spring Hill" filed a response this past week to the May 1 suit denying that she libeled him or put him in a false light.

Longtime businessman Donnie Cameron is asking Beth York for $250,000 in damages and to retract her statements about him, which he says are false and have caused irreparable damage to his character.

York's posts were made this past spring, before local elections. She was questioning the value of Cameron's association with certain candidates.

According to court records, Cameron served time in federal prison in the 1990s after pleading guilty to operating an illegal gambling business.

- Jamie Page, The Tennessean

Judge Nations to retire

Longtime Williamson County General Sessions Judge Al Nations recently announced he will retire at the end of September.

Nations has served as a Division II General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge since 1995.

Before taking the bench, he served 25 years as a school teacher, principal and systemwide personnel director and supervisor of special education for the Franklin Special School District.

- Jamie Page, The Tennessean

Vacation Bible school geared toward adults

A grown-up version of vacation Bible school tonight through Tuesday at The Factory at Franklin will feature lessons, music and guest speakers Hannah Curlee and Amy Parham, who were former contestants on "The Biggest Loser."

The free event for women will be 6:30 to 9 p.m. today through Tuesday at Liberty Hall in the Factory, at 230 Franklin Road.

Attendees may come one night or all three.

Organizer Denise Hildreth Jones of Franklin, founder of Reclaiming Hearts Ministries, says the event attracts women of all ages and many different denominations.

- Vicky Travis, The Tennessean

Lebanon school signup is scheduled for July 22

Registration for students who attend school in the Lebanon Special School District will be held at each zoned school from 1 to 5 p.m. July 22.